James B. Russell Bengal Slices

I'm smoking through the remains of a tin I purchased about a dozen or so years ago..

At this point the Latakia has softened substantially and the VAs have more of a say in the smoke then when it was fresh. I think the black cav adds a nice subtle sweetness to the two combining for a pretty well rounded smoke.

The well aged version I'm smoking has a nice creaminess to it but also displays that "greasiness" a fellow reviewer mentioned below..a characteristic which was indeed much more pronounced smoking tins back in the day when they were still in production.

I like the thick little flake presentation they used as it facilitated easy prep. Crumble & go was all it took. Easy to pack, keep lit and enjoy. I like the room note but I doubt it would win over any non smokers.

A fine smoke both back when fresh and the quite aged version I'm finishing now. I'd seek out another tin but wouldn't get too carried away pricewise..its a good smoke not a legendary one..for me anyway.

Try it if you can find it..

This flake was awesome, the black Cavendish brought a nice contrast to the latakia. A dark mixture, it was still easy to smoke and I have thouroughly liked all the tins I had purchased. If I would have known it would end up discontinued, I would have stocked up.

Thick,creamy,greasy smoke wish it was still around

Smoking this in a Castello and enjoying every puff, I've had this tin unopen for well over 10 yrs and finally cracked it open. This is a fine tobacco, it get's better as you move down the bowl. It burns well and is easily rubbed out to your liking. The latakia comes through at the mid point and continues to get better, it reminds me of good Virginia flakes that just get richer as your nearing the end of the bowl. As all good blends you don't want it to end, a fine blend that I wish I could still get.

Seven or so years ago, I bought a tin of this and like provguy below was disappointed, which leads me to wonder which version I smoked. If Fairmon's Lancers Slices in any way resembles the original Bengal Slices, I can safely say that what I smoked was not the Gallaher version because the latakia was a but a hint. I kept the tin for a while and dipped into it from time to time, but I never got satisfaction.

I had a tin of this given to me from 1988 and it was wonderfull. The smoke was cool, smooth, soft, light and sweet. The taste is smokey, light and slightly sweet. There were some nuances of an earthy grassy type that weaved themselves in and out through out the bowl and were very tastey as well. This is really a wonderful blend and I much Appreciated it. I just wish I could acquire more of this since it unavailable to me right now. If you have an opportunity to acquire this, do it. You may like it or even treasure it!

This tobacco consists of virginia pressed with cyprian latakia (and my throat tells me that at least some of that black is cavendish), and sliced into flake form. While it lacks the layered complexity of some other english-style blends, Bengal Slices is nonetheless a superbly balanced tobacco, with a nice modestly sweet underpinning from the virginias, and a smoky, fairly spicy topping from the latakia.



Both the virginias and the latakia are surprisingly restrained in this blend, with none of the tongue-dissolving acidity of many other virginia-heavy blends (mcclellands) or the overwhelming smokiness of many english blends, I suspect because of the cavendish. While I'm not generally a fan of cavendish, its presence here seems to mellow out the blend nicely.



The room aroma is a straightforward smokiness, and doesn't seem to generate any complaints.

Made in Denmark. Bought on Ebay. Bit of a gamble and i lost. Tastes like Black Cav really. Somewhat similar to Frog Morton On the Bayou which i didnt think much of either. I'll be giving or trading this as its just to awful to smoke. I see why this was discontinued. Update: I see i was pretty scathing in my previous review. Probably due to paying way to much and being very disappointed. Two years later and i have tried this again. Sitting in the jar has opened the flavours up somewhat and it now appears to be a mild Cav dominant blend which is ok. Certainly not worth what i paid($75) but i can now see why some would enjoy this. Two stars

Too bad it is not available aymore in its original form.

The sweetend black CA brought a nice touch to this Latakia & Va flake.

This has been my first Latakia flake and I enjoyed it.